Written Answers Tuesday 1 August 2006

Scottish Executive

Further and Higher Education

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to ensure that the advantage which Scottish universities perceived that they have gained through the Fresh Talent visa scheme, when recruiting foreign students, is maintained in light of the proposed introduction by the Home Office of a similar scheme across the United Kingdom.

Mr Tom McCabe: The introduction of the new United Kingdom-wide scheme allows postgraduate students, and some first degree students within very specific disciplines, to remain and work in the UK for a maximum of one year. However, the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme is different and stronger in that it offers the opportunity to work for two years, and includes all Master’s, first degree, PhD and Higher National Diploma graduates who successfully complete their studies. This is a significant advantage, and we will continue to work with Scottish higher and further education institutions to promote the scheme to international students.

Health

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider the need for Scotland-wide guidance on the management of deep vein thrombosis and, if so, when it expects to reach a decision on the issue.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive acknowledges the importance of ensuring that guidance is readily available to all health care professionals and patients on the management of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) has produced a range of guidelines which relate to this issue.

  We have agreed with NHS Quality Improvement Scotland that it will carry out a stock-take of all the initiatives in place in NHSScotland aimed at preventing venous thromboembolism, which includes DVT. The results of that survey will enable the Chief Medical Officer to consider what further guidance to health care professionals might be needed.

Local Government

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many departmental directors and deputy directors there are in each local authority, also showing the salary for each post.

Mr Tom McCabe: Information on the number and salary of departmental directors and deputy directors in local authorities is not held centrally.

National Entitlement Card

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what personal information is held on the National Entitlement Card.

Mr Tom McCabe: The only personal information held on the National Entitlement Card are those details that are necessary to print or re-print a card for the cardholder. The details are a picture of the cardholder, forename, surname, date of birth, gender, house number, postcode and the card number. With the exception of the card number, all other details are provided by the citizen when applying for a National Entitlement Card.

National Entitlement Card

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is compulsory for elderly and disabled people to carry the National Entitlement Card at all times.

Mr Tom McCabe: No it is not compulsory for elderly and disabled people to carry their National Entitlement Card at all times. However, if they wish to travel by bus free of charge, they will need to present their card to the driver at the start of their journey.

Parliamentary Questions

Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide a substantive answer to question S2W-26077 which received a holding reply on 5 June 2006.

Mr Tom McCabe: I replied to the question S2W-26077 on 1 August 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Scottish Executive Publications

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the publications that it has issued since 1 July 2005, giving the (a) circulation, (b) cost and (c) title of each publication.

Mr Tom McCabe: A list of Scottish Executive publications and their costs from 1 July 2005 to 31 May 2006 is given in Scottish Executive List of Publications/Costs 1 July 2005 – 31 May 2006 , a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 40127).

  There is currently no central record held on the circulation of each publication and this could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Scottish Executive Staff

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what average hourly rate it paid to employment agencies for agency staff, broken down by Executive department and employment agency, in each year since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive currently has two central contracts for the provision of agency staff. Administrative and clerical staff are supplied through a contract placed with Pertemps. A contract is also in place for the provision of interim managers with Hays.

  Rates for staff supplied by Pertemps are the same for all Scottish Executive Departments, and depend on the grade of the post being covered. Table 1 shows the mean average rate paid to Pertemps for staff at administrative and clerical grades for each year since 1999.

  Table 1: Pertemps – Average (Mean) Hourly Rate Paid to Pertemps for Agency Workers Covering A1 to A4 Posts

  

 
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005
 2006


 Rate 
£6.06
£6.58
£6.58
£6.58
£7.70
£7.99
£8.07
£8.10



  Note: Calculated for each year by summing the agreed hourly rates for each of the administrative and clerical grades, including typists and personal secretaries and security staff, covered by the contract and dividing by the number of grades to give an average rate. Where a rate or rates has/have changed during the year, an average of the two rates has been used.

  Rates for staff supplied by Hays will vary depending on the skills and specialist expertise required for the particular role. A mean average hourly rate paid to Hays for staff is shown by department in Table 2. The average rate will depend on the usage of the contract by the department and the types of roles being covered. Because some candidates are highly specialised they may command a very high rate, although usually only for a relatively short period of time. This will have distorted the rates for some departments.

  Table 2: Hays – Average (Mean) Hourly Rate Paid to Hays for All Agency Workers by Department

  

 Department
 2004
 2005
 2006


 Office of the Permanent Secretary
£99.92
£54.48
£53.39


 Development
£47.82
£52.07
£35.85


 Education
£32.73
£56.46
£59.27


 Enterprise Transport and Lifelong Learning
£64.55
£62.23
£53.42


 Finance and Central Services
£75.27
£33.66
£38.69


 Health
£64.74
£86.62
£48.96


 Justice
£91.73
£61.15
£55.63


 Environment and Rural Affairs
 Not used
£57.28
£63.96



  Note: Calculated for each department by summing the hourly rate for each interim manager supplied by Hays to that department and dividing by the number of managers supplied to that department.

  On occasion individual departments bring in temporary staff from employment agencies outwith these two main contracts, for example where specific professional skills have been required, or in outlying areas, but this information is not held centrally.